LED Lanterns - a low cost backup light source

LED backup light source


Below are two LED lanterns that are early versions of lanterns that were available at Wal Mart for $5 each.  I had three of them but ruined one with leaking batteries.  So now I only use rechargeable high quality Ni-MH or Lithium batteries.  They put out lots of  light, run for a long time, are super light weight, and have a red flashing light setting on the second click of the button.  This red blinking light is a nice feature for traffic control if you are stranded.  I will say though that the blinking red LED light sticks are more visible and compact.

This 75 Lumen LED Lantern costs $7.95 at Wal Mart.  With the price of things increasing I think of this as the equivalent of the ones above except for the red blinking light.  It seems brighter than the older versions.

Any lantern of this type is so much better than the previous fluorescent models that needed D cells and were much heavier and larger.  The incandescent models prior to that were even less functional in terms of weight, size, and light output.

I used these for camping, traveling, and emergency lighting.  They use 3 AA cells and put out plenty of light to get you around a room.  Though you can read by these lights I prefer a more directed light so these are better for area lighting.

You can get more powerful versions of these but for just a low cost and simple emergency area light these are hard to beat.